


The Haunting of the Heart-Twine Hotel

by Chacw



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:18:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18465076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chacw/pseuds/Chacw
Summary: Janet and her son Chris move into a recently refurnished Hotel that got turned into an apartment complex, things aren't as quiet as they hoped it would be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> welp, for once I'm writing a story that inst a fan fiction. hopefully making my own characters and settings wont be too hard.  
> Enjoy!

“What are you doing! There are children here, do you have no remorse?  
Yes this must be done, but the timing couldn't be worst!”

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The old Heart-Twine hotel was built in the 1920s and was known as the Halfway hotel. It was built halfway between two large settlements, and it was a popular stop for travelers. But as the settlements expanded outwards and traveling become quicker and easier the Hotel became obsolete.  
Soon it was renovated and the historical site was reopened as the Heart-Twine hotel. The news of the grand reopening quickly spread across the country. People from all over came to celebrate, every room was booked and guests were partying. No one knew what happened, and no one was seen again. Less than 24 hours after reopening the Hotel was already in disrepair, and this is how it stayed for years. The city grew and improved and sitting near the center of town was the forgotten remains of Heart-Twine, not even local gangs would go near it. Finally after nearly another 60 years the hotel began to be renovated again and reopened as a small three floor deluxe apartment complex. Minimal repairs were done, where it could be saved the original materials were used, only in the worst areas were replacements made. The opening happened smoothly and slowly people began to buy apartments, it was quiet and had a good location. But superstitions still stood so out of the 40 possible rooms by the end of the opening happened only 7 were bought.

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Janet wasn't a superstitious person, but when all her co-workers told her not to move into the Heart-Twine she became a little cautious, but the location was too convenient, it was only a 10 minute  
Walk to her office at city hall. No more will she need to drive through traffic for over an hour every morning, now she can sleep in and still make it to work on time. With a triumphant grin she looked around her new home, a nice large apartment surrounded by a decent sized field in the middle of the city.

“Mom! Where should I put the boxes?” Chris said walking in.

“For now we can put them in the living room, the place came furnished so there should be tables and couches we can leave them on while we sort it all.”

“Cool, I'll go grab the rest of the boxes from the car, can you stop gocking and start putting away what I brought up?”

“Yes Chris, don't break anything. If you do I'm gonna make you pay for it!”

 

“No fair! You know very well I don't start work till next week.” Chris shot back grinning lopsidedly. He didn't see it but his mom’s response was an eye roll and slight chuckle.

“Let’s see what we have here.” Janet said sitting down on the couch.

“Eeep!” she let out as she sat on something sharp. Sitting on the couch right where she tried to sit was an ornate hair comb. It had thin black blades into a thin white handle. It was shockingly strong for how thin it was. Picking it up to take a closer look at it she saw a long strand of hair stuck to it.

“Gross. When I’m done here I'm gonna wash you.” she thought to herself. As she reached over to put the comb on the coffee table the comb slipped from her hand and fell in between the floorboards.

“Oh well, no point getting upset about it. It wasn't even mine.” she said aloud with a slight frown.

“Did you say something?” Chris called out as he brought the next set of boxes into the room.

“Oh, it was nothing. Have you found the boxes of clothes yet? It's getting late and we can always unpack the rest tomorrow, but if I have to get up and find I don't have any clothes im gonna be real mad.”

“Did you get nothing done while I was getting these?” Chris said pointing at the unopened box in front of Janet.  
“Come on Mom, at least decide which bedroom is yours. I'm not gonna do all the work here. Besides, the moment you sit down and let your mind wander you're gonna start thinking about the ghost stories you have heard about this place, and once your mind starts running it's hard for it to stop.”

 

“Am I being lectured by my own ungrateful son?” She replied with a silly smile.

“It depends, a lecture implies im trying to teach you something. Did you learn anything?” He returned her goofy smile and upped it with an eyebrow raised.

“Of course not! Now go work, child labor is only useful if you're still a child and standing here you’re burning time.” She said putting her arms on her hips.

Over dramatically Chris slapped a hand to his chest in shook and shook his head silently before walking back out.

“Damn Children” she said while walking towards the bedroom. The apartment they got had one master bedroom and two smaller bedrooms, one was planned to be turned into Chris’ room and the other room was going to be used for storage until they finalize the layout of their new home.

As she stepped into the master bedroom she heard a creak of the floorboards behind her. Quickly looking over her shoulder she saw nothing. That was good right? This place can’t be haunted. Letting out a slow sigh she turned back to the room. Looking around it was gorgeous, a queen size bed sitting in a marvelous carved bed frame, all on hardwood flooring. If she had to describe it she would have said “rustic rich” it was all carved and finished wood, the bed stand, the double door closet in the corner, even the modern lighting and electrical fixtures seemed like they were pulled from the past, the normal white plastic of an outlet was replaced with a light tan to match with baseboard, she didn't even notice them at first, they looked natural in the room in front of her. The light in the center of the ceiling had a yellow glass cover which light the room an almost gold color. She loved every aspect of the room, she couldn't believe such a nice place was affordable for her. She could buy multiple rooms and make an outstanding investment in them, beautiful furnished apartments near the core of downtown, it's perfect.

Chris walked up behind her and glanced around the room before letting out a slow whistle. “Wow, I'm assuming you’re claiming this room?”

“Yeah, it's perfect.”

“Cool, I'll go move my stuff into the other room and call it a night, your stuff is in the box on the coffee table. Night Mom.”

“Night Chris” Janet said without taking her eyes off the room.

She walked over and sat down on the bed, the moment she sat down she realized just how tired she was, she was about to lie down before realizing she was still fully dressed. Letting out a sigh she stood back up and walked out of her room and down the hall towards the living room. Just like Chris said her clothes were in the box on the table.

Carrying her box of clothes back to her room she heard the same creak behind her. She almost thought it was just a creaky board she was stepping on if it wasn't for how far away it sounds like it coming from. Rolling her eyes this time she kept walking back to her room before setting the box of clothes down next to her bed.

After switching into her nightgown she lied down on her bed to go to sleep. Rolling over and letting out a yawn she pushed herself up sputtering. She got a hair in her mouth. Pulling it out she noticed it was too long, it was almost twice as long as her hair and was the wrong colour. It was black compared to her dull brown hair.  
“The Hell” she mumbled half asleep before rolling over again, she decided to worry about this in the morning.

She was already asleep when the hair she found started moving, slowly at first it dragged itself across the floor slowly building up speed before stopping on top of the cushion of the couch. Soon another hair came, then another one crawled out of the couch cushion, another from under Janet’s bed, all the hairs moved toward the couch seemingly to gather.


	2. Chapter 2

“Come now dear, you need to comb your hair before the party.”

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Janet woke up in a bed she didn't recognize, she looked around and didn't recognize the room either. In a panic she sat up and swung her feet out of the bed only to bang her heels into something, looking down she saw a box. After feeling stupid for forgetting that fact she moved into a new apartment she Chuckled lightly and decided to get up and enjoy her weekend unpacking the rest of the boxes. As soon as she left the room the smell of sizzling bacon caught her nose, walking into the kitchen she saw something that shocked her to her core.

“Gasp! Is this really my son? No, it couldn't be, he's not this responsible.” Janet said in mock surprise.

“Morning to you too. I had trouble sleeping last night so I woke up early and decided to surprise you.” Chris said without turning away from the eggs and bacon he was cooking on the stove.

“Troubles sleeping? Is there something wrong with your bed, do we need to replace it?”

“No,no. The bed was really comfy, I just felt uneasy the entire night, I kept waking up in the night catching something in the corner on my eye, turning my head and poking myself in the eye with one of my bangs. Nothing was there, but my mind kept saying something was.”

“Oooo how creepy, you gonna tell me this place is haunted?”

“It depends, how burnt do you want your breakfast?”

“You’re too sarcastic, you know that right.”

Turning around with a rye smile Chris said “And who do you think I get it from?”

Rolling her eyes Janet fake pouted and said “Point taken.”

“Breakfast is almost ready but the dining table is coated in boxes, so is the coffee table, can you choose one and move the boxes?”

“It depends, how burnt will my breakfast be?” Janet said as she turned and walked out.

After clearing the dining table Janet sat down to wait for Chris and starting sorting through the nearest box, while debating where to put Chris’ books he came over with a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.

“Good morning mom, which box is that?” Chris said as he sat down.

“Some of your books, you want them in your room or do you want to put bookshelves up in the living room?”  
“Hmmm, I think the living room is the better option simply for the fact it's harder for me to stay up late with them farther away.” Chris took a bite of his eggs and began to cough. Spitting them out onto a clear spot on his place he stared at them for a second before sticking his fingers in and pulling out an extraordinarily long hair. Giving a worrying glance up to his mom he said “Well damn, the only person whose hair this could be was what’s her name the delivery person, I didn't see it when I cleaned the pan and plates meaning two things. Firstly we should unpack quickly to make sure she didn’t steal anything if she was rummaging through our stuff and second we’re gonna need to be careful about unpacking the plates and cutlery to make sure they are hair free.”

“Hmmm, I don’t think she would steal anything, and besides….”

“Besides?” Chris asked as he watched his mom contemplate.

Shaking her head slightly she said “Nevermind” before taking a bite of her bacon. As she chewed and swallowed she began choking, reaching a hand to the back of her throat she pulled out a hair even longer than the one Chris found, it had to be a meter long. “There is no way a hair this long wouldn't be noticed” she said as she matched Chris’ worried expression. “Something weird is happening.”

Chris rested his elbows on the table and said with a weak smile “you gonna tell me this place is haunted?”

Janet was about to retort before she saw Chris’ expresion, he was doubting what he was saying, his smile was weak and his eyes were still worried. Closing her mouth she stopped to think before saying. “You wanna go talk to the landlord about this?”


	3. Chapter 3

“ _You failed, it’s time to go_ ”

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Tommy decided to wake up early, _he was going to be needed today_ , besides, he hasn’t had a chance to meet his tenants yet. Thomas better known as “Tommy Tomorrow” was widely regarded as a little crazy, if not very crazy. People who have met Tommy have described him as “a fun guy” and even “shockingly reliable.” You see Tommy is a chronic procrastinator, his favorite phrase being the cause of his nickname “It’ll happen tomorrow.”

Tommy sat down for breakfast, taking a large spoon full of brightly colored cereal he looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh, _Time to go to work_. He stood up and went to open his door, just in time to watch someone hit his doorbell.

The kid standing outside the room looked up and saw his reflection in Tommy’s aviator sunglasses. Before Chris could say anything Tommy interrupted him saying “Hey Chris, what do you need?”

Chris blinked a couple times while he gathered his thoughts, “How do you know my name?”

“Quite simple, I know everything.” Chris and Tommy stared at each other for an awkwardly long time.

“Ok I'm messing with you, I just took the time to properly research the people living under my care.”

“Makes sense, well there is a pro-” THUMP, Chris paused and looked down the hall to see where the thump came from. Tommy glanced down the hall before turning back towards Chris.

“You see that blue door down at the end of the hallway? Don’t ever open it, if you see it somewhere else, ignore it, you hear it thump, ignore it. If you’re backed into a corner and it seems like your only escape, forget it, turn your back on it and close your eyes and accept your fate.”

Chris was taken aback, before he could respond Tommy continued “Now go back and enjoy your breakfast, tell your mom I’ll be up after I finish breakfast. Actually wait a moment, what room are you in?”

“212” Chris said still trying to process what he was just told

Tommy spaced out for a moment before saying “oh, that room, if I remember correctly that room is still a mess, whatever your problem is i'm sure that doing some cleaning could fix it. Now go, I’m in the middle of breakfast.”

Before Chris could respond Tommy closed the door. Chris stood there confused for a moment, mouthing a silent wtf, he reached out to press the doorbell again. Before he could hit it the door swung open and Tommy stuck his head out and simply said “Don’t” before closing it again.

Taking a deep breath Chris turned away and started walking back to his room. Tommy for some reason decided to have his room hidden in the back of the first floor, off of what used to be a service hallway. On his way back he heard a faint sound of knocking followed by a quiet childish giggle coming from down a near by hall.

Looking down the hall Chris rolled his eyes, of course it was a dark hallway. “Shut it, this place is creepy enough as is, I don’t need you adding to it, like for fu-” THUMP. Chris jumped back, whipping around to look behind him he saw a blue door, at closer inspection the door had 8 deadbolts all on the exterior.

Chris was freaked out, he ran at full sprint back to the stairs and by the time he was back at his room he was completely out of breath.

As he entered his home he saw what looked like a freakishly long black snake slither away around the corner, the part he saw had to be four meters long and the rest of it was already around the corner.

He heard his mom call out “So how did it go?”


	4. Chapter 4

“Stay focused! If you don’t hurry up the party will be over by the time we even get to the ballroom!”

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Chris turned around, closed the door and loudly banged his head against it, it made a solid thunk sound and he just stood there with a sore head leaning against the door as he thought; “This place can’t be haunted, right?”

His mother came to investigate after he didn’t respond and she heard the thunk, seeing him just standing there she asked in a small voice “You ok sweetie?”

Chris sighed and straightened up. “Yeah, I’m gonna grab a shower, collect my thoughts.” he said with a worried look. “Call me if you need anything.” Janet said before heading back to continue unpacking.

The bathroom’s door didn't fit right, it left small gaps at the top and bottom of the door-frame. Chris has had bad experiences with doors today, meaning when the sound of something dropping came from behind the closed bathroom door Chris was cautious, getting down on the ground he looked under the door. He saw black, an uneven and shiny black, it would shift slightly with his breath and would randomly shake on its own. Chris stayed there for almost a minute, trying to figure out what he was looking at, he pressed his face to the ground and squinted into the crack, then it shifted and suddenly there was white. White with a pupil. Chris rolled away from the door and the eye that appeared.

He slowly and quietly stood up and reached for the door, and holding his breath he opened it, and saw nothing but a dark bathroom. Turning the lights on he looked around to see where they could have gone. But natural source of light was a small window on the wall across from the sink, but at further inspection it was still locked. He was now on edge, glancing over his shoulder, expecting to see people in the mirror, waiting for the moment he let his guard down. Every nerve in his body was tense as waited for the ghost to show up, he was holding his breath as he pulled the shower curtain back, again nothing happened. Letting out the breath he turned the water on and when nothing happened, he smiled slightly.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Janet was making quick work of the remaining boxes, she just finished putting away the kitchen equipment and just found the box with the last of her clothes, as she was bringing it to her room she heard the distant creak again and ignored it, she was still thinking about how Chris was acting. She was so distracted that she didn’t even see the state of her room as she entered.

She looked up and saw a complete mess, the sheets were ripped off her bed and scattered everywhere, the closet doors were wide open with piles of her clothes sitting on the floor, the shelves she organized less than an hour ago were a mess, absolutely everything was in the wrong place. It’s as if an angry toddler threw a tantrum in her room. She was so shocked she almost dropped the box she was holding. Her mind was running a 100 miles per hour as her eyes dashed from corner to corner.

She slowly set the box down on the floor and sat on her exposed mattress, as she sat there she felt something brush against her ankle, it was soft almost silky, she wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't dragged against her ankle for so long. She yanked her foot away and rolled back onto the bed, she stared at the ceiling debating what to do next. As she laid there she heard the shower stopped running. She called out loud “Hey Chris, when you’re dressed can you come here?” A muffled “Sure” was heard in response. This made Janet smile a bit.

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Chris has seen enough horror movies to know that if anything bad was going to happen it would happen in the shower. So when his shower finished and nothing tried to kill him he was pleasantly surprised. He was almost ready to lower his guard. As Chris stepped out of the shower he heard his mother call out for some help. He yelled back “Sure” before quickly walking to his room.

As he was getting dressed he noticed long black hairs in the drawers containing his clothes. Grabbing a shirt and pulling of the few long hairs his mind started to piece together what was going on. By the time he was fully dressed he had a small pile of hair sitting on his bedside stand.

Chris sat there for a moment and just watched the hair. The hairs at first wouldn't move, but as he turned away and looked at the pile out of the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw it shift. “Chris dear, now please.” Chris snapped his head back to the pile of hair, the hair wasn’t moving, but it definitely had moved at some point. The hairs had all joined together and seemed to be knotted. Chris furrowed his brow before standing up and walking over to his mother’s room.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris wasn’t prepared for what he saw when he entered his mother’s room.

“Wow mom, I know this place is spooky, but I wasn't expecting you to have a mental breakdown for at least another 6 to 10 years.”

“Har Har, but for your information I wasn’t the one who did this.”

“But we’re the only ones here.” Chris said with the raise of one eyebrow.

Janet stared at Chris for a moment before saying “Do you honestly believe that?”

“You got me there, what do you need?”

“Two things, I need help cleaning up my room, but more importantly I think there is something under the bed.”

“What are you, a child?” Chris said with a lopsided grin.

His mother just stared at him in silence for a few seconds.

“Ok, I have an idea,” Chris said before leaving the room.

Chris rushed back to his room and tried to find the small amount of hair he collected. It was on the floor just outside the doorway. Chris glanced at it and where it was supposed to be before bending down and picking it up. Pinching it between his fingers, he ran back to where his mom was.

Chris got down on his hands and knees and held the hair close to the bed, his mother watched in silence as her brain pieced together the events that have been happening. As Chris slowly lowered the hair towards the underside of the bed it began to pull. Slightly at first, but grew in strength the closer it got to the bed. When it got within a few inches of the lip to under the bed the pull was strong enough to break free of Chris’s fingers.he locked eyes with his mother. He went through the gestures of rock, paper, scissors and lingered on scissors until his mother nodded. She slowly and as quietly as she could climbed off the bed and left the room.

Chris stood up and backed away from the bed, never once taking his eyes off it. When his back hit a wall he slid down till he was sitting on the ground. Without removing his eyes he reached out and picked up a pillow that was lying nearby. He ran his hand over it, and picked a hair off of it. His mother re-entered the room and handed him a pair of scissors, he tilted his head back towards the door and she stepped back out of the room. In one hand Chris held up a strand of hair, and in the other held the scissors. Holding his breath he brought the two together and prepared himself for what could happen next. snip.


	5. Chapter 5

“You’d better care of your hair, it’s easily your best feature brat.”

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Chris had a bad gut feeling that something bad would happen if he damaged the hair, he was far from prepared for the consequences when he cut the hair.

The room shook, if the room wasn't already a mess it would have been enough to knock everything off the shelves. Something exploded out from under the bed, what could only be described as long black tendrils shot out in every direction, writhing around in pain they swung around the room.

Chris swore under his breath, he glanced at the hair he had cut to see a droplet of blood forming where the split was, it slowly swelled in size and dripped onto his lap. The instant it hit him the room froze, all the large tendrils paused and a pair of eyes appeared under the bed. They shot an angry glare towards Chris and quickly all the unorganized tendrils came together and attacked Chris.

One found its way around his ankle and the thickest one found his throat. He tried to grasp his hands around the part wrapped around his throat but his fingers only sunk into the mass of hair, he tried to pull free but got caught in the heavily knotted hair, his hands were trapped, he couldn't break free. As the hair began to lift him up he screamed out “Mom, run!”

At these words the eyes under the bed shifted their focus from Chris to the door where Janet was standing. Janet’s eyes widened and out of pure reflex slammed the door shut as one of the hair tendrils shot towards her. It slammed into the closed door, barely too slow to catch her. She began to slowly back away before quickly turning and sprinting down the hall. She felt something on her wrist and looked down to see a strand wrapping itself around her, she ripped it off and it quickly changed its efforts to wrapping around her hand.

She ran into the living room and tripped over the leg of the coffee table. She crumpled to the floor, still distracted by the hair wrapping around her arm. She looked down at her arms to see more hairs have gathered on her. Her eyes were frantic, she rolled onto her back and pushed herself into a sitting position. She looked around and saw hairs were crawling towards her. She was surrounded and all she could do was scream.

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Tommy finished his overly sugary cereal and looked at the clock. Letting out a long sigh he stood up and walked over to his closet and pulled out a folding law chair. Whistling a joyful tune he walked out the door taking the time to lock it behind him. Still whistling he walked down the back-halls where his room was to the main lobby. Ignoring the disturbing noises Tommy pressed the button for the elevator.

He stepped in and started reaching towards the second floor button

_Third_

floor He paused for a moment and stared off into space, he pressed the second floor button, and then the third floor button. The door closed and the elevator music started playing in sync to the tune he has been whistling for the last minute.

The door opened on the second floor and he stuck his head out. The sounds of chaos were coming from down the hallway, frowning slightly he stepped back into the elevator as the door closed.

He arrived at the third floor and stepped out, still whistling he walked down the hall and paused in front of a blank wall. He unfolded the chair facing it towards the wall. He sat down and crossed his legs, still whistling he just stared at the blank wall.

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Chris was lifted off his feet, the hair wrapping around his throat lifted him up, his hands trapped in the thick knots stuck in place. As he was lifted he felt the knot around his neck loosen ever so slightly, just enough so he could breath, even if it was labored breathing.

The hair hoisted him off his feet and stopped. Chris panting looked around the room, all the hair was frozen in place. Chris looked back under the bed, they locked eyes and slowly the eyes pulled back out of sight.

A tendril separated itself from the arm wrapping around Chris’s throat, the mound of hair began to extend upwards and slowly a pair of hands extend out of the front, pushing the hair to the side there was a little girl.

The girl, no older than 8 stared up at Chris with a frown, if he wasn't so scared he would have described her as cute. She wore a worn-out pale dress with multiple stitchings and patches visible, her hands were finger combing her long black hair, she winced slightly every time her fingers got caught in a knot.

They stayed like that just staring at each other, the only audible noise in the room was Chris’s breathing. after almost a minute of just staring at each other Chris asked quietly, “what do you want?”

The little girl squinted in anger and simply pointed towards her hair before she continued to finger comb it, her hands getting entangled in the knots. She winced slightly and continued to stare at Chris.

Chris’s mind was running at hyper speed, trying to figure out what she meant. He looked closely at her hair, the only thing he noticed about it other then that it could strangle him at any time was that it was extremely tangled.

“You’re hair is tangled?” He asked pointing out the obvious.

The girl slowly nodded. A spark came through Chris’ head and he said,“I see, you can’t fix your hair by yourself, and I'm not ready to die. Lets see if we can figure something out.”

The girl paused her finger combing and focused all her attention on Chris, she nodded and tilted her head in thought.

She reached up to where Chris’s hands were stuck and with effort pulled them out of her hair. The hands fell limp to Chris’s side, he knew better than to try and fight.

With a small smile Chris said, “How about we make a deal?”

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Janet was surrounded, the hairs were grouping up and wrapping around her arm. Before she realized what was happening her entire right arm was coated in hair. The hair was overpowering her, she lost control of her arm and the hair was slowly spreading to cover more of her torso. With her free arm she reach out to grab onto the couch.

The hair slowly began to wrap around her neck and climb up her face, her eyes were frantic trying to see a way out of this, but the more she tried to pull the hair off her the quicker it spread across her.

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The little girl smiled, and grasped Chris’s hand. Her long hair fell in front of her face and soon she was a large mass of hair again. She climbing up Chris’s arm. His eyes widened as the hair covered his face. He screamed in pain. It felt like thousands of needles were digging into his head. If he wasn't still restrained he would have been convulsing in pain.

The hair around his throat loosened and he fell to the floor. He stayed there on the floor panting, In front of him was a pile of hair. The hair was a dull brown color. With a shock of realization Chris ran over to his mother’s bedside table, sorting through the mess of objects on the floor, he pulled out a mirror and looked at his hair.

It was pure black, he reached a hand up to touch it and it softly wrapped around one of his fingers. Out of pure reflex he pulled his hand back. Some of his hair on the back of his head began to grow, it wormed its way into his shirt and down his arm.

It lifted his limp arm and pointed it out the door, Chris followed the slight pull until he saw his mom.

She was on the floor inside a cocoon of hair. A look of shock crossed his face, but all he could say was “Please stop” quietly under his breath.

The cocoon around his mother slowly separated itself from her and formed into the little girl. She took a moment to look around the room before pointing towards the floor.

Chris walked over and kneeled in front of where she was pointing, there was a large gap in the floorboards. Without hesitation he sunk his hands into the gap and pulled the floorboard up and out with all his strength. Looking into the hole that he made he saw an ornate comb.

He gently picked it up and sat down on the couch. The girl quickly came and sat in his lap. Glancing between her and the comb he slowly raised it to her hair and began working the knots out.

It took almost three hours to complete. He tried to stop a couple times, but every time he did, he felt his hair being pulled. When they finished the girl stood up and looked at her hair. She had a large energetic smile, she wrapped her arms around Chris in a hug before turning into a mass of hair and joining with the hair in his head.

Chris sat there exhausted for almost ten minutes, he glanced over at his unconscious mother before sighing. He grabbed one of the couch cushions and stuck it under her head to act like a pillow. He stood up and walked out the door, he needed some fresh air, and some time to think.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tommy stopped whistling long enough to frown slightly, he checked his pocket watch and started counting down. “3…… 2…… 1…..” THUMP.

Just as he hit zero a loud thump was heard in the empty hallway and where the blank wall in front of Tommy was the Blue door appeared. It’s top deadbolt began to shake violently, Tommy squinted at it, when it stayed locked he began to grin “ Not yet, it isn’t time.” Angry thumping could be heard through the door.

Ignoring this Tommy smiled as he stood up and picked up the law chair. Whistling under his breath he began to walk away.


	6. Chapter 6

“Damn brat! At least respond when I talk to you!”

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Chris found a bench on a path leading around the building, it was the perfect place to catch his thoughts. He had a beautiful view of the surrounding fields. Apparently when the two cities were expanding together they refused to build within a certain radius of the Heart-Twine. This left a large open field surrounding the historic building, the only construction besides the building was the road leading to and from the hotel. Chris sat there staring off into the field, a gentle breeze blowing through what is now his hair.

Tommy silently walked up and sat down on the bench, leaving the folding chair on the ground. They sat in silence for a bit, Chris collecting his thoughts and Tommy enjoying the day. Finally Chris glanced towards Tommy and a quiet sigh escaped his lips before he said. “Why didn’t you come to help?”

Tommy glanced down at the folding chair at his feet before saying. “Would you believe me if I said I had to polish my sunglasses collection?”

Chris glared at Tommy. “Sorry, now isn’t the time for jokes” Tommy quickly responded.

“I had other priorities” he said truthfully.

“Like what?” Chris said with a sudden burst of anger. “My mother and I were in serious trouble!”

“I know” Tommy said flatly.

“You knew?” Chris said angrily before catching himself. “Wait, how?”

“I told you already kid, I know everything, besides, it’s my job to manage everything that happens in there”

“In that case, can you explain to me what the hell just happened?” Chris said slightly annoyed.

_You shouldn't tell him_

Tommy responded with a resentful “Nope.”

“Are you serious? Actually, can we have this conversation another time? I’m tired and really just want to be left alone.” Chris said angrily

“Sure, but first let me tell you something. Within a week of announcing the reopening of the hotel I had more than enough people to fill every room, something about prime real estate and a lack of superstition. The only reason only 7 out of the 40 rooms have people in them is because they were the only people I wanted here.”

Before Chris could respond Tommy was already walking away.

As Tommy turned a corner and walked out of sight Chris felt his scalp tingle, soon there was a little girl sitting next to him. For the first time Chris was able to get a good look at the girl, her skin, eyes, even her clothes were all made of hair, at a glance she looks like a normal child, but on closer inspection she becomes just a collection of hair. The girl looked up at Chris and smiled, even her teeth were made of hair. It was a very infectious smile, Chris couldn't help but find himself smiling. They sat there together enjoying the afternoon, unaware of the dangers remaining inside.

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Janet woke up to find herself on the floor with one of the couch cushions as a pillow. Before she even had time to look around she heard a knock at the door. Standing up she brushed herself off, noticing the lack of hairs she smiled slightly.

Opening the door she saw Tommy standing there, from the description she was given of the landlord it couldn't be anyone else. Tight black jeans, reflective aviator sunglasses, messy brown hair, and a wrinkled button up shirt.

“Hello, I’m Tommy the landlord, may I come in?” he asked politely.

“Sure, sorry but the rooms kind of a mess right now.” Janet said while leading Tommy over to a seat at the dining table.

“Don’t worry about the mess, because of the reasons behind it I’m legally required to clean it due to the paperwork you signed onto.”

Janet was taken aback for a moment, she didn’t remember reading that when she bought the room. “Really?” She said shocked.

“Yup, but only because of the unnatural circumstances around the mess, I’ll even have the floor fixed, I think I’ll be able to get it done while you and Chris are out tomorrow, I heard he was starting a new job tomorrow, give him my regards and a wish of good luck.”

“Cool.” Janet said. Her mind was still confused as to what happened that day. “Anything I should do know?” She asked.

“Nothing I can’t get done tomorrow, besides you haven't had time to greet your neighbors yet.”

Tommy smiled and stood up, just before he exited the room he turned back and added. “Odds are they will need some help with their new friends.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Where’s the fucking money!”  
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Maria Mauler lived almost directly under Janet and Chris’s room, meaning when things got chaotic she heard a lot of banging. At first she thought it was just the moving of furniture, but when a scream got mixed in she became more worried. She was going to go see what was happening while it was going down, but she's just a little bit of a coward meaning she only decided to go investigate after the banging was finished, about four hours after it finished.

Maria got off the elevator just in time to see Tommy walking towards her.

With a relaxed grin Tommy said. “Heyo Maria, what’s up?”

“Oh, uh, not much, I was just coming to see if the neighbors up here were ok.”

“I was just talking with Janet, and they seem to be fine. If you wanna poke your head into room 212 for a cup of tea I’m sure Janet wouldn't mind. By the way, how’s your room?”

“It’s fine, still annoyed you wouldn’t let me keep any pets here, but the bed is so comfortable it’s hard to complain.”

“That’s great, if you need anything, let me know, I’ll get around to it sooner or later.”

“Tomorrow” Maria whispered under her breathe with a smile.

“What was that?” Tommy said grinning.

“Nothing Tommy, go bug another person, I wanna go meet the neighbors.”

“Take care Maria.” Tommy said over his shoulder as he turned and walked away.

Maria approached the door to room 212 and knocked gently, as she stood there she heard a faint. “Coming” through the door. 10 seconds later the door opened and a tired looking lady stepped into view.

“Good afternoon.” She said with a smile.

Maria returned the smile and said. “Afternoon, I’m Maria, I live almost directly under you in room 113. I just came up to see how you’re doing.”

“Eh, I’ve been worse, do you want to come in for a cup of tea?” Janet lied.

“Sure thing.” Maria said. as she entered the room the first thing she noticed was how much of a mess the living room was in. “What happened here?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about it, Tommy said he would get this figured out tomorrow.” Janet replied.

“Of course it’s tomorrow.” Maria said under her breath.

Janet guided her to a seat in the kitchen which luckily was left untouched, after Maria sat down Janet turned away to start the kettle and grabbed some mugs.

She inspected both mugs thoroughly before putting them on the table and grabbing the tea bags, which also got a thorough inspection.

“What’s that about?” Maria asked.

“Oh I’m just looking to see if there are any hairs on them.”

“Hair?” Maria said with an eyebrow raise.

“Yup, after what happened this morning I’m going to be cautious.”

“What happened this morning? I heard some screaming from my room.”

Janet paused for a moment, staring into the empty cup. “A ghost, but from the way Tommy was acting and the fact I’m not dead I’m pretty sure I can assume Chris took care of it, and knowing him he’s probably off somewhere sulking.”

Maria’s eyes widened when she mentioned a ghost. “A ghost? seriously?”

“Yup.” Janet said before grabbing the now boiling kettle and pouring the water over top the teabags.

Janet sat down and leaned slightly over the table. “Turns out the rumors about this place were true. A scary as hell ghost showed up. Have you encountered anything?”

“Can’t say I have, besides you know, hearing loud banging and screaming coming from up here.”

They sat there in an awkward silence for a moment before Janet asked. “Well tell me about yourself, where do you work?”

A smile crossed Maria’s face as she responded. “I work at the Vet clinic and adoption center about 4 blocks west of city hall. I normally work with general check ups for people animals, but I also help house train the puppies in the adoption center, best part is I get to bring them home to help acclimate them to travel.”  
Maria was on a roll, once she started talking about her job she couldn’t stop. “I’m actually kind of annoyed Tommy convinced me into buying a room here, especially because he forgot to mention the no pet rule.”

“Tommy convinced you?” Janet said.

“Yeah, he would periodically bring stray or sick animals into our clinic and I came to know and befriend him through those interactions.”

“You’re friends with him? Isn’t he a little weird?”

“Oh trust me, he is very weird, but shockingly enough he is actually quite helpful and somewhat responsible. I should warn you, he does have a habit of putting things off until the absolute last minute. I don’t think I have ever seen him miss a deadline, but the amount of animals he brought to me that were hit by cars that I could only barely save is too many.”

“Really? He doesn’t seem that irresponsible.”

“Give it time, once you get to know him better you’ll understand.” Maria said with a shrug. “So tell me, what about you, where do you work?”

“The archives at city hall, you wouldn’t believe how much of a mess it is, but somehow people seem to find what they need, I’m also sure one of the ladies there has the whole archives memorized.”

Over an hour later Maria glanced up at the clock and said. “Sorry, but I should get going, I still need to finish my unpacking.”

“If you ever need help with anything come find me, odds are I’ll be down in my room if I’m not at work.” She said as she stood up.

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The sun began to set and Chris was still on the bench, glancing to the side he saw the little girl sitting next to him, her legs hanging off the bench bench swinging back and forth. Silently Chris stood up and began to walk away, he felt his hair being pulled and froze, turning back he saw the little girl looking at him holding her hand up.

His hair was being pulled and through gritted teeth Chris said “It’s getting dark, it's time to go back.”

He stood there with his hair being pulled enough to hurt as the girl thought over what he said. She dropped her hand and the pain on Chris’s scalp stopped, she pushed herself off the bench and trotted over.to where Chris was standing and together they walked back into the hotel.

As they stood in the elevator Chris turned to the girl and said. “Could you go back, I don’t want my mom to freak out seeing you.” he said pointing to his hair.

After a moment the girl nodded and Chris felt the tingle in his scalp as she rejoined the hair in his head.

Chris threw his hood up as he exited the elevator to hide his hair. As he entered his apartment he called out. “Hey mom, I’m back, how you doing?”

His mother came out of her room and said. “Besides for the fact I don’t even know what happened this morning I’m fine. I met one of our downstairs neighbors, they seemed nice.”

Janet saw her son, he had large bags under his eyes and looked pretty shaken up. “You on the other hand look like shit.”

“Thanks mom.” Chris replied with a small smile forming. “Glad to see today hasn’t ruined your mood.”

Janet dropped the smile and said in a quieter voice. “In all seriousness, are you ok?”

Chris pursed his lips before saying. “ To be honest, I’m not sure. I’m going to grab an early night and see how I am in the morning.”

He walked into his room and closed the door behind him, letting out a sigh he sat on his bed and began to get ready for bed. He expected the girl to crawl out of his head, but no change came.

The room was eerily quiet as he got into bed. Laying in silence it took him almost 2 hours to fall asleep.

 


End file.
